Have you ever wondered what a novel looks like in a spreadsheet? The outline, I mean. Maybe you’re wondering what a novel outline even is. When I say outline, what pops in your head? Is it something like this? I. This is the first heading. A. This is a subheading. 1. This is a subsubheading. No, I’m not referring to an outline for a high school English term paper. I’m referring to a novel. When I say outline, I’m merely referring to some kind of organizational structure behind the story—a blueprint, if you will, that shows all the critical ingredients that must work together behind the scenes for the story to work. You may be surprised to learn how many organizational details must work together to make a good story, especially for a suspense novel with multiple characters and settings on a timeline. There are actually lots of ways to…

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. In previous posts in this series, I talked about what background and training are necessary to be a full-time editor. I talked about building a resume and defined how a qualified editor can find work from home by citing my own editing journey. Then I discussed what day-to-day life is like for a work-at-home editor (my experience may not match everyone’s). In this post I discuss billing clients and keeping record of my work. A Word about Pricing Many folks don’t realize how many different types of editing an editor can perform. Do you know the difference between a basic copyedit and a substantive edit, or between a developmental edit and a proofread? Check out this article at my editing website to better understand the important differences. Obviously I don’t charge the same price for every service because some services require more time and effort than others. Here’s a breakdown of my…